After all the Christmas songs, the sound of Indian music adds an extra energy to this afternoon while I look at old books of Indian jewels and get ready to celebrate

the New Year that is coming soon to sing and dance the old year out.

And here on my table lots of snakes , symbols of so many myths, and first among them the idea of wisdom. In Kerala snake shrines are found in most households.

Perhaps because they live below ground, they can speak

about the ancient earth to us, and how to care for it.

I bought this book traveling in Jaipur in the 1980’s. It is a lesson in craft, the skill of the smiths, the beauty of design, and above all, a great book. Another of my books that stays close. First published in 1886’s, it was to show off the gold enamels of “Jeypore”, when a third of the work was made for the European market.

Charms, anklets, armlets, bangles, earrings and necklaces made for princes and nobles. A magnificent collection.

India for centuries has been the land of Maharajas and the myths of their palaces and their clothes of silk adorned with grand jewels.

The opulence of Indian culture, its iconic textiles and craftsmanship has influenced this unique collection by Louboutin. This unique shoe will be forever a beautiful piece, never mind the season!

Here, the last advertising poster done by Warhol in 1979.

It was done for a Canadian company’s line of precious reptile skin shoes.

A pink snake morphs into a classic pump. Inventive, but art?

These posters now sell online for about $700 USD.

Quite a bit less than his later “poster” series.

Another snake by Warhol. This is the Makassar snake, a bringer of only good things and worshipped in Indonesia.

Warhol’s designs were collected into a Coloring Book, a collection of his drawings, now a rare first edition published in 1990.

In 1961 Warhol was commissioned by Edelman Leather a book for children. Andy used to say, “for children of all ages to color and paint.”

The choice of drawing this Makassar snake was not casual.

In mythology they are always benevolent.

An American of Austrian descent, Eugene Joseff was always interested in metal work and started making Jewelry in the 30’s.

He was very charismatic and met everybody in Hollywood, including Walter Plunkett,

“the” costume designer of the time who specialized in period movies, especially those of Katherine Hepburn,who also had him design “regular” clothes for her as well. Plunkett became Joseff’s mentor.He designed “period” jewels for many, many movies including Elizabeth Taylor’s belt for Cleopatra .

In My Love Affair with Jewelry, Taylor ponders the question: “Sometimes I wonder what will become of everything, because just like the Duchess of Windsor’s collection, they will all be up for auction one day,” she writes.

“They will be scattered to the four corners of the world, and I hope that whoever buys each piece loves it as much as I do and takes care of it and realizes that having jewelry is a temporary gift. In truth, we ‘owners’ are just the caretakers. Nobody owns beautiful paintings. Nobody ever owns anything this beautiful. We are only the guardians.”Here Elizabeth Taylor in a picture of Joseph L.Mankiewiez on the set of “Cleopatra”, 1963.